Fate
by joyrid3
Summary: Kagome gets transferred to a new school and Youko discovers a world full of possibilities. [KagomeYouko & KagomeKurama]
1. Chapter 1

**N/A: **I have absolutely no idea why I wrote this...my muse can do strange things to me...all I had to do was see a picture of Youko and it went haywire on me. Hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho

**Fate**

"New school?!" Kagome repeated for the thirtieth time, apparently still in shock.

"Well...honey..." her mother started in a soft tone, "it's very good to take responsibility and try to gather the jewel you broke in the Sengoku Jidai, but you see..." she stopped, searching for the right words.

"The principal called me and it seems you don't have enough attendance to pass..."

"What?! You told him I was sick, right?" Kagome asked, panic beginning crawl into her soul.

"Even so...he said he can't have you passing with such a horrible attendance record or the others will take your example..." her mother explained.

Kagome was turning as white as a sheet so she added quickly:  
"But he also said he knows you're a good student and he arranged for your transfer to another school."

"But what about Yuka, Eri, Ayumi and all my classmates? I won't know anyone there!" Kagome replied, letting herself fall on one of the chairs.

"It's going to be fine! You can still hang out with them..." Mrs. Higurashi said, trying to cheer her up. Judging from her defeated expression, Kagome wasn't buying it.

"Would you rather fail?" her mother changed the approach.

"No!" Kagome shot quickly, snapping out of her depression.

"Now we're getting somewhere. Come on, we'll go talk to Mieou High's principle right now."

Kagome complied with a sulky expression, following her mother outside.

_That idiot, Inuyasha! This is all his fault! He never lets me come back! Shards, shards, shards, that's all he think about. I can't wait to give him a piece of my mind!_

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"Did you hear that, Mariko? We're going to have a new girl in class!" The tall brown-haired girl with a slender figure informed her friend.  
"Well she better not be after Minamino-_kun_ or she'll be the ex-new girl." the other one said, a malevolent smirk gracing her features.

"Yeah, after all there's a lot of competition." her friend stated.

"Don't worry, Sakaki-chan...she could be ugly." Mariko replied, bursting into laughs.

"I hope so, for her sake." Sakaki said in the same tone. "When is she joining us?"

"Tomorrow, I heard." Mariko answered.

Sakaki remained silent for a moment and then got up from the bench they were sitting on.

"Come on, we'll be late for class."

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"Inuyasha, you idiot!" Kagome screamed, popping out of the well.

The hanyou in question looked at her with a befuddled expression.

"What's wrong with you?" he inquired, making sure his tone was nice and low since Kagome seemed on the verge of sitting him to death.

"What's wrong with ME? Look at this, you...you...IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" she yelled, sticking a paper sheet in his face.

Inuyasha suddenly became very serious as his claws snatched the sheet from Kagome's shaky hands. His eyes followed the writing and then rose to meet Kagome's as he remained silent.

_He's probably going to apologize now. I may or may not forgive him._

"I can't read a word of this." He finally said, handing the dumbstruck girl her sheet.

Kagome's face began to take on a red tint, as her eyes seemed to shoot flames.

"IT SAYS TRANSFER PAPER, YOU IDIOT!" she shouted in his over-sensitive ears.

"OW! Why the fuck'd ya do that for?!" He shot back.

"Because I'm being transferred to a new school on behalf of my poor attendance record! OSUWARI!" she snapped.

The hanyou hit the ground with a loud sound as she continued in the same high tone:  
"And do you know why I have such a lousy attendance?" Not even waiting for him to respond she continued "Because you never let me return to my own time and go to school! Osuwari!" she shouted, seeing how Inuyasha had managed to get up during her speech.

As the half-demon's face hit the dirt again, she stormed away in the direction of Kaede's village.

"What the hell is "attendance"?" Inuyasha asked, voice muffled by the ground, but Kagome was long gone.

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Kurama was in a bad mood. The reason for this was a simple one: he had to go to school today. But it wasn't because he didn't like school – the institution – as a matter of fact he was a top student, no, what he fundamentally disliked was the horde of girls that drooled over him. He had to withstand every second of this long torture without being rude, because he most certainly was not ill mannered, but it was getting harder and harder not to tell them all to go away since he had no interest in any of them.

Kurama sighed, opening the door to his classroom as at least six female voices greeted him at the same time.

He responded politely to all of them and then proceeded to take a seat at his desk, praying for the teacher to come in soon.

Fortunately, his prayers were answered and the door slid open as his teacher and a girl he had never seen before entered the classroom.

"Good morning, sensei!" Everyone greeted, standing up.

"Good morning, class!" their teacher answered "I'd like you all to meet our new student. I'll let her introduce herself."

"My name's Higurashi Kagome and I just transferred here. I hope to get along well with all of you, once we get better acquainted." Kagome said, bowing in front of the class.

Kurama's eyes were fixed on the new girl. There was something strange about her...she seemed to radiate spiritual energy.

"Well as you can see, she's not ugly." Sakaki whispered to her friend.

"And Minamino-_kun_'s not taking his eyes off her!" Mariko noticed, knitting her brows.

"Well, Higurashi, why don't you sit behind Minamino? He's our top student and I'm sure he'd be kind enough to show you the ropes." The teacher said. "Takashi, move to the first desk."

Kagome headed towards the instructed desk and saw the girl that left it glaring at her as she sat down.

_Great...I'm already making friends..._

"Uhm..." she started, giving the red-haired boy in front of her a delicate tap on the shoulder. "Minamino-kun, is it? Could you please lend me your book for a moment?"

"Of course." Kurama answered and handed her his book, slightly touching her fingers.

A beam of electricity shot through his whole body and he felt himself trembling.

"There's definitely something strange about her...What's with that level of spiritual energy?" he wondered.

Kagome realized she hadn't even opened the book, while staring at him. When their fingers touched she could have sworn she felt demonic energy.

_That's impossible! Get a hold of yourself, Kagome! You've been spending way to much time in the other world..._

"Thanks." she whispered as she opened the text book, not noticing the other girls shooting her death glares.

"I already hate her." Mariko declared, turning around as if the sight of Kagome fingering Kurama's textbook was some horrible sacrilege.

"We'll teach her a lesson after class." Sakaki decided.

Kagome sighed with relief as she heard the bell ringing. The classes were just as difficult over here, especially since she hadn't been keeping up. None of the girls seemed to see her in a good light though, so she decided to be sociable.

"Hi!" she said, addressing Sakaki.

The girl looked at her with a surprised expression and then returned the most gracious of smiles.

"Hey there. I'm Sakaki. This is my friend, Mariko."

"Pleased to meet you." Kagome replied. "Are all classes this hard?" she smiled.

"Oh, no...this is by far the hardest. Mashimoto-sensei is very strict. We all have trouble with his class." Mariko replied.

"All except Minamino-_kun_ that is." Sakaki stepped in.

"Oh...he must be really smart then." Kagome responded, smiling.

The two girls exchanged a glance and then Mariko spoke:

"Would you come with us for a bit, Kagome-_chan_? We want to show you something."

"Sure." Kagome answered, happy to be making friends amongst her classmates.

The girls got up and Kagome followed them as they walked through the corridor.

"Uhm...where exactly are we going?" she inquired.

"We're here." Sakaki said, opening one of the doors and signaling her to enter.

"This looks like...the broom closet?" Kagome spoke, wondering what in the world could be so interesting in there.

Suddenly, one of the girls pushed her and she stumbled into the variety of mops and buckets that lied scattered around.

"What...?" she started, rubbing her arm.

The two girls were standing in front of her, looking as if they had just cornered their worst enemy.

"Listen, new girl, there's a couple of things you need to understand." Mariko said in a loud tone.

Kagome looked at them with awe. Those two girls were so nice a while ago...

"Minamino-_kun_ is off limits, you understand?" Sakaki asked, narrowing her eyes.

Kagome couldn't believe her ears. That's what this was about? Borrowing the guy's textbook?

"Are you two serious?" she finally asked, looking at her opponents with undisguised surprise.

"Does it look like we're kidding?" Mariko shot, making a move to grab her hair.

Kagome's months of experience in fighting youkai had sharpened her senses and she caught the girl's wrist before it could touch her.

"First of all, what you're doing now is just pathetic! Don't you have _any_ self-esteem? Second, I don't give a damn about your threats and third, I couldn't care less about what's his name!" Kagome snapped, pushing Mariko away.

The two girls looked at her with an awed expression, not being able to hide a tint of fear. They had thought she'd be easy pray, seeing how she was new and all, but in a split second this girl had turned into the predator.

Mariko and Sakaki took a step back as Kagome walked passed them, stepping out into the corridor.

_I can't believe these girls! What in the world am I doing amongst such people? I want to go back to my old school!_

Kagome's eyes flooded with tears at the thought of her friends and she lowered her eyes to keep the others from noticing.

_I have to go wash my face, I can't let everyone see me like..._

Her thoughts were interrupted as she bumped into something and almost fell on her backside. Fortunately that something caught her before she could hurt herself.

Kagome raised her eyes to see the red-haired guy who seemed to have such avid fans.

"Minamino-_kun_..."

Glancing at her arm, he released her asking:  
"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine! We should get to class..." she answered quickly, making a move to turn away.

"There's blood on your arm..." he pointed out in a worried tone.

_When she pushed me, I must have hit myself harder than I thought..._

"It's just a scratch, really...I tripped..." she lied.

"Still, someone should have a look at that..." he insisted.

"It's nothing and I really don't want to miss class." she protested. "Come on, we'll be late."

Kurama nodded and looked after her as she ran towards the classroom. Suddenly a sharp pain in his chest made him feel like he was being torn apart. He recognized this feeling and was not particularly fond of it since it signaled Youko's presence was trying to surface. He had to find out more about this girl.

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_I can't believe I have to go there today too...it's exhausting to do it every day after class...but I have to think about my attendance._

Kagome sighed as she entered the familiar grounds of her family's shrine. Even if it was the place Inuyasha and Kikyou fought so many years in the past, she still felt as if it belonged to her.

She opened heavy wooden doors and let her backpack fall to the ground as she jumped inside the time-well.

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Kurama followed the strange girl to what seemed to be a shrine. He had kept a safe distance from her, thus avoiding to detection. He didn't need to see her to know where she was going, since her energy left a pulsating trail in the places she past by.

He climbed the stairs and headed towards an old structure, guarded by massive wooden doors. Driven by curiosity, he slid them aside, but to his surprise, all he could see was a dry well.

It wasn't very deep, so it's bottom was clearly visible, but Kurama distinctly felt that her presence disappeared there.

_I knew there was something weird about her..._

Not knowing what possessed him to do this, he jumped inside of the well and braced for impact, but instead of the hard bottom, he felt like diving into something very warm. Light surrounded him and in a split second, he touched solid ground as he found himself in the bottom of the well.

Kurama got up and started climbing the wall of the well, fully aware that he might not be in the same place anymore. After all...he'd seen supernatural things happen more than once.

His presumptions proved to be right, as he found himself in a clearing of some sort, surrounded by grass. He felt the girl's presence just meters away, but before he could follow it, he realized coming here was a very _bad_ idea. His very soul seemed to be splitting into two and he couldn't even control his body functions anymore. Youko was taking over and his presence was so strong it couldn't be contained. His vocal cords wouldn't respond to him as he screamed inside of his mind, closing his eyes.

The eyes that opened after were no longer green, but bright gold as the demon flexed his fingers. Silver hair fell down to his waist and onto his white garments as fox ears listened to every sound. He had no idea why his presence was beckoned out this way, but he suddenly felt in power like the time he inhabited his own body. This place he had come to...was filled with demonic energy...an era much like his own, but still different...

Youko smirked as he sensed the girl approaching. He hadn't had this much fun in ages.

"I swear, if that moron insults me one more time, I'm going to _kill_ him!" he heard her voice. Youko sensed no other presence, so she was obviously talking to herself and in a loud a voice at that.

Kagome rushed into the clearing, face flushed with anger and the sight before her eyes made her trip. As she regained balance, she stared at the strange apparition in disbelief. Golden eyes, long silver hair and...cat ears? No...cat ears weren't that big. Probably fox ears. His youki was enourmous and she wondered how in the hell she had missed it until now. Despite his similarity to Inuyasha, this was no hanyou she was looking at. And from her long experience with youkai, she concluded his intentions weren't friendly. Plus he looked at her in a way that sent a chill up her spine.

_Damn it! Why the hell would I leave my bow in the village?_

The demon approached her and she took a few steps back.

_Inuyasha has to sense him! Inuyasha!_

As if her silent scream had reached him, the hanyou stormed into the clearing, placing himself in front of Kagome.

"Who the fuck are you?" he growled in his characteristic way.

"I could ask you the same question." the youkai replied calmly.

"If you don't know who I am, I'll show you right now!" Inuyasha yelled, unsheathing Tessaiga.

"Inuyasha, wait..." Kagome started.

"Kaze no..." The words stopped in his throat as the hanyou found himself all tied up by what seemed to be a plant of some sort.

As he tried to break free of it, he saw the youkai grabbing Kagome and taking off with her into the woods.

"Kagome!" he yelled, struggling to get out of the tight bonds.

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"Let go of me!" Kagome yelled, trying to escape his grip.

"You do realize, you'll die if I let you go now, don't you?" he asked in an amused tone.

Kagome looked down and froze. She hadn't even realize when he had started to leap from one tree-top to another.

"That's a good girl." she heard him say.

That annoyed her even more and she made an effort to keep quiet as he started to laugh.

"What do you want with me?" she finally asked and he stopped on a high branch and released her from his arms.

"I want to know what this place is, my dear Kagome..." he replied, pinning her against the tree as golden eyes pierced into her dark ones.

"I...I don't know...what you mean." she managed to articulate, since the sight of him so close made it kind of difficult to speak for some reason.

"Oh, I'm sure you do...I got here through the same well you did." he informed her, drawing even closer.

_Through the well?! That means...he's from my time?_

"The fact that I met you...it was fate."Youko whispered as he inhaled her scent deeply. A scent of purity and power...the scent of one the legends spoke about...He wondered how it would feel like to kiss a miko.

Kagome looked at him and felt all of her resistance crumble. He didn't look evil...on the contrary...his eyes had a certain softness to them.  
She could feel his breath on her lips and closed her eyes as leaned even closer.

**A/N:** I've only seen a few Yu Yu Hakusho episodes so please tell me if Kurama is OOC so I can remediate the situation. I usually write about characters I have a deep understanding of, so this was more like an experiment.

I don't know when and if I'll continue this...but I would like to know your opinions so...R&R!


	2. Chapter 2

**N/A:** Here's chapter two, as promised

**Chapter 2**

"KAGOME!!!" Inuyasha's voice echoed across the forest, making Youko clench his fist. The girl was no longer responsive to him and instead she saw fit to yell as hard as her lungs permitted her:

"Inuyasha! I'm here!"

Youko turned away from her suddenly and Kagome felt the rise in his youki as her heart skipped a beat. Judging by the size of his demonic energy, he might even be more powerful than Inuyasha.

Suddenly, the demon leaped to the ground, disappearing from her eyesight.

_Don't leave me up here! Stupid youkai and their stupid powers!_

Her anger faded away quickly as she heard Inuyasha's voice

"Kagome, stay there!"

_Like I could go anywhere..._

"I'm coming for you!"

She looked down, expecting to see the hanyou's form but a loud crashing sound made her freeze in panic.

"Where do you think you're going?" she heard the fox demon's mocking voice.

"Inuyasha!" she yelled, wishing there was something she could do to help.

"What do you want with her?" she heard the hanyou's voice as she sighed with relief. He didn't sound injured.

"As if that's any of your business, doggy-boy." the other replied in an arrogant tone.

"Why you..."

Kagome knew very well the effect that insult had on Inuyasha. The next thing he would do was to take out Tessaiga and wipe the insolent bastard of the face of the earth. That didn't work last time though, but Kagome knew very well the hanyou had a tendency _not _to learn from his mistakes.

"Kaze no..."

His voice was abruptly cut off by an odd sound...it sounded like hundreds of branches breaking.

_Damn it! I can't see a thing from here!_

A cry of pain echoed and she felt a sting in her heart. It was Inuyasha's.

Without hesitating another moment, Kagome began to climb down the huge tree. Her foot slipped, but she grabbed on to a branch, managing to avoid the fall. The tree's bark was too straight to allow her to proceed safely, but she ignored the dangers, trying not to look down.

Suddenly, she lost balance and tried to grab on to something, but there was nothing to prevent her fall. She let out a scream, closing her eyes as she fell freely.

Just as she was about to hit the ground, someone caught her and she grabbed on to his neck, feeling her heart beating out of her chest. Inuyasha had managed to escape that guy somehow...

"I was so scared!" she cried, burying her head in his chest.

"Why did you try to climb down, then?" she heard a voice that was definitely not Inuyasha's.

Her head snapped up quickly and she saw the silver haired fox youkai looking at her with a smirk.

"You...bastard! Let me go!" she yelled, her small fists hitting against his chest.

"As you wish, my dear." he complied, setting her on the ground. "A little gratitude would be appreciated."

Kagome realized he had saved her life just now and her face turned a bright shade of red. Suddenly, as if something had clicked inside of her mind, she yelled at him.

"Where's Inuyasha? What have you done to him?"

"What is he to you?" the demon inquired, his golden eyes fixed on her.

Kagome was stunned by his audacity.

"That's none of your business! Now tell me where he is! If you hurt him in any way..." she started in a threatening tone.

"You'll what?" he asked, his smirk becoming wider.

"Ill...Ill..."

_What the heck can I do without my bow and arrows?_

"I'll purify you!" she bluffed.

This seemed to have the exact opposite effect than what she anticipated as the demon burst into laughs.

She narrowed her eyes as her hand drew a semicircle in the air, hitting against his cheek.

He froze, looking at her with the most surprised expression she had ever seen in a demon.

"Don't mock me!" she snapped, but underneath all of her anger he could sense the well hidden tint of fear. She was a feisty one. He was beginning to like her more and more. Still, he had to show her that Youko Kurama wasn't to be toyed with.

Faster than the human eye could see, he materialized behind her and grabbed her wrists, pushing her against a tree. Oh yes...her fear was flooding his nostrils now.

"Listen woman...do you have any idea who you've just slapped?" he growled, tightening his grip on her wrists.

"You haven't exactly...introduced yourself." she replied, not turning her head to look at him.

"I'm Youko Kurama, king of bandits." he said and she knitted her brows at his arrogant tone.

"Well, I'm..." she started.

"Oh, I know very well who you are, Higurashi Kagome." he cut her off, releasing her wrists.

She turned around and looked him in the eyes with a very surprised expression. She had assumed he heard her first name while Inuyasha was calling for her, but that didn't explain why he knew her whole name.

"How do you..." she started, but the words stopped in her throat as she noticed the demon had vanished.

Kagome turned around, her gaze searching everywhere, but she didn't feel his youki anymore so he had definitely left.

_Good. Have to find Inuyasha now. I hope he's not hurt too bad..._

"Kagome-chan!" she heard the echo of Sango's voice.

"Kagome-sama!" Miroku's followed shortly after.

"Miroku –sama! Sango-chan!" she yelled, running in the direction their voices were coming from.

After a few hundred meters, she saw her friends and looked at them with worry shining in her eyes. Inuyasha wasn't with them.

"Where's Inuyasha?" she asked quickly.

"He's safe." Miroku answered, happy to see the relieved look on her face. "We found him unconscious. He had a vine of some sort around his neck so I'd say that thing strangled him until he collapsed." he continued.

_Inuyasha defeated by a vine?!_

"There were vines around his hands and legs too, he must have been immobilized." Sango said.

"So that's the fox youkai's power." Kagome said, more to herself.

"Controlling plants? But why stop when Inuyasha fainted?" Sango gave voice to the question that bothered them all.

"That my dear Sango, is a mystery." Miroku said. "Let's head back, Kagome-sama. Inuyasha will wake up soon and he'll wreak havoc if he doesn't see you there."

Kagome smiled and nodded, letting her friends lead her back to the village.

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Unknown to them, a pair of golden eyes followed their movements until they were out of sight.  
A flash of silver and white and the shadow had disappeared without a trace.

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"Are you sure you're not hurt?" Inuyasha asked for the tenth time, engulfing her in a worried gaze.

"I said Im sure!" Kagome replied in a higher tone then she would have intended. She was happy he was worried, but this was getting really annoying.

"Aha!" he exclaimed, reaching for her wrist. "It's bruised!"

Kagome looked to where he was pointing, noticing her skin had a reddish tint, but it wasn't anywhere close to bruised.

She sighed, retracting her hand from Inuyasha's grip as the hanyou gave her an inquisitive look.

"I said he didn't hurt me, okay? He actually saved my life!" she shot.

Everyone's eyes turned to her as she told them about the fall from the giant tree.

After a few moments of silent, Miroku spoke:  
"And he also left Inuyasha alive, when he could have killed him."

"Keh! That bastard, kill me?!" Inuyasha quickly stepped in.

The others looked at him with a bored expression and the hanyou looked away, muttering something to himself.

"Where's Shippou?" Kagome asked, noticing the kitsune's absence for the first time.

"We left him with Inuyasha when we went looking for you, but..." Sango replied.

"He probably went chasing after some little girl. He's gonna grow up to be just like Miroku." Inuyasha opined in a serious tone.

_That's not like Shippou! He wouldn't leave Inuyasha wounded like that until we got back..._

"Kagome!" the hanyou's voice disturbed her deductions.

"Yeah! What?" she snapped, annoyed at the fact that he couldn't realize the obvious.

"What did that guy want with you anyway? You still have the shards, right?" Inuyasha asked in a concerned voice.

"Yes, I still have the stupid shards! Thanks for your concern!" she replied harshly.

_Like I'm not good for anything else than finding and holding on to the dumb jewel! Argh, I've HAD it with him!_

Inuyasha felt the anger in her scent and looked at her, befuddled. He never understood how she could get so worked up over _nothing_.

Kagome took a deep breath, trying to calm down.  
_Okay...think clear blue sky...What?! It's dark already? _

"I have to go, guys! I'll be back tomorrow around noon, or maybe the day after tomorrow if I have a lot of homework. Bye!" she said quickly as she grabbed hold of her now empty backpack.

"Hey! You just got here, where do you think..." Inuyasha started, but soon realized his words were in vain. Kagome was already gone.

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Shippou followed the scent that had drawn him away from the village. He was supposed to stand by Inuyasha's side, but something had beckoned him away. It was a scent he knew too well, although this time it was slightly different.

He ran as fast as his small paws could carry him, going deeper and deeper into the forest. It was a dangerous thing, to go into the forest alone at night since it was filled with youkai. But Shippou felt it was worth it, this time.

The scent was becoming stronger and the kit stopped for a second, trying to catch his breath.

_He's one of us! I just know he is!_

Too caught up by his discovery to notice the huge presence near to him, the small fox demon resumed his search. Unfortunately, he didn't even get the chance to advance one meter as a huge hand picked him up.

"A small _tanuki_, is it?" the ragged voice spoke.

Shippou looked up at the face of his aggressor and began to tremble. It was a huge _Oni _with three horns and its red eyes looked at him with hunger.

"I'm not a _tanuki_!" he mumbled, trying to find the courage to protest.

The _Oni_ gave out a screeching laugh, his face drawing closer to his victim.

"What are you, then?"

Shippou felt sweat pouring all over him at the sight of his huge fangs.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I go off on my own?_

"He's a _kitsune_." he heard a male voice.

Turning his head to see who had spoken, Shippou's nostrils were hit by the scent he had been following so avidly.

"And just who are you?" the _Oni _spoke, its massive body moving in the intruder's direction.

"I don't give out my name to scum." he replied arrogantly.

That seemed to have a great effect on the _Oni_, as it dropped Shippou to the ground, its huge fists trying to squish his enemy.

The balloon transformation had saved the kit from what seemed like imminent death and he quickly transformed back as he reached the ground.

The _Oni_ seemed to be trapped by a vine with thorns of some sort and it was strangling him to death. Between the screams of pain, Shippou heard a strange sound. It was like the trees were also attacking the now helpless _Oni_, extending their branches to crush it.

Giving out an excruciating cry, the monster gave its last breath, falling to the ground. In front of him, a demon with silver hair, dressed in white garments smiled victoriously.

Building up courage, Shippou approached his savior.

"Excuse me, but, who are you?" he asked, looking at the apparition with wide eyes.

The _youkai_ turned golden eyes to the kit, sensing his fear.

"I'm Youko Kurama. I see you're also a fox demon, though you're different than me." he replied, studying Shippou.

"I felt it! I knew you were a _kitsune_! I came here following your scent!" the small fox _youkai _informed him.

Youko was just about to instruct the kit not to stray through dangerous forests at night and then make his exit, since dealing with children was not exactly a pleasant way of passing his time, when he felt a distinct scent on him. It was faint, but he was sure the little fox demon had the priestess's scent on him.

"Listen, kit. Do you know a _miko_ by the name of Kagome?" he asked.

Shippou was just about to answer, when precaution stopped him. What if this demon knew that Kagome carried the shards? He'd want to kill her and take them for himself.

"Never heard of her." he answered, crossing his arms over his small chest in a defensive position.

"You're a bad liar." Youko told him, amused.

"What do you want with her?" Shippou asked, his voice betraying concern.

"Don't worry, I don't want to harm her." he answered in a soft tone.

Shippou didn't know why, but he was inclined to trust this stranger. Maybe it was because he'd saved him or maybe it was because he was also a fox demon, but he felt he could let him meet Kagome.

"Ahm...I think she went back to her own wo...country now." Shippou said, cursing himself for his stupidity. He had almost revealed Kagome came from another world.

Youko smirked. He knew exactly where the priestess came from, but since the kit was trying so hard to withhold it, he said nothing.

"But she'll back in two days tops and I could ask her to meet you here." Shippou continued.

_Ha! And I'll tell Inuyasha and all the others too so you won't be able to try anything funny. Or maybe not Inuyasha, 'cause he'll be jealous and attack you anyway. I'll tell Sango._

"Sounds good, kit. I appreciate it." Youko said, feeling a sting of pain shooting trough his body.

"I'll see you in two days then. Bye!" Shippou said as he turned to leave.

With the small fox child out of sight, Youko crumbled to the ground, hand clutching his chest.

_I used up too much energy! Damn you, Shuichi Minamino...not now!_

Managing to get on his knees, Youko tried to find a way out of the situation.

_I'll go back to the human world...let Shuichi take over there. I'll regain enough strength to come back in two days._

This seemed like the most logical solution, so the fox demon gathered what strength he had left and stumbled in the direction of the time-well.

**A/N:** I don't know the exact relationship between Youko and Shuichi so it's all improvisation. I'd appreciate some tips from someone who knows these things better than I do.

R& tell me what you think!


End file.
